The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for cutting a plurality of photographic prints from a larger sheet.
It is conventional in photofinishing systems to use rolls of photographic paper that are the exact width of the finished print. Individual prints are cut from the roll with a single cross cut. Conventional systems also can produce prints of various lengths. This is done to accommodate modern cameras that include the capability of recording images of various selected lengths. For example the camera user can select any one of several lengths of images ranging from a wide-angle image to a much shorter image. However, each print produced by conventional photofinishing systems must be of the same width.
A change in the desired width of the print requires changing the width of the print medium. This has been done by manually changing the roll of photographic paper being used or by designing a photofinishing machine that has multiple feed units each stocked with a specific width of photographic paper. An alternative approach is to use multiple feed trays each stocked with single sheets for making a single print of a given size. This eliminates the need for cross cutting the print from a roll but still limits size selection to the exact size loaded into the selected feed tray.
Recent advances in photofinishing allow for the production of photographs by ink jet printers, laser printers and other photofinishing printer systems not dependent on traditional wet chemistry. Moreover, the use of computers in connection with these advancements allows for further improvement. For example, it is not necessary to use roll stock having the width of the desired photograph. A photofinishing printer can now generate photos of various sizes on a single sheet of print media. Also the images can be manipulated to arrange photos of different sizes on a single sheet.
The throughput speed of an ink jet printer, laser printer or the like is dependent upon the width of the printed page in that the use of a wider paper allows for an increase in the printed area per unit of time. When using such a printer, it is preferred as a matter of convenience to feed the printer with sheets of a single width. This presents the problem of severing multiple images of various widths from a single larger sheet.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for cutting prints of various sizes from a larger sheet.
Another object is to provide a method and apparatus for orthogonally moving a sheet beneath cutters in order to sever prints of various widths from a larger sheet.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for cutting prints of various sizes from a larger sheet including a transport mechanism for moving a sheet beneath orthogonally arranged cutters.
Briefly, the method and apparatus of the present invention operates on a sheet containing an array of smaller images. The sheet is provided by a photofinishing system that prints a set of images on a larger sheet having a defined length and width. The prints are arranged on the sheet in rows and the prints in each row share a common dimension, either width or length. Also the prints are aligned in the row such that the common dimension extends longitudinally. With this arrangement, the photographs in each row have leading and trailing edges that are aligned. The sheet is moved longitudinally into a cutter and as the sheet enters an inlet end of the cutter, the sheet is clamped and a transverse cut is made. The transverse cut severs a strip containing a row of photographs. The strip of photographs then is moved in a transverse direction towards an outlet end of the cutter and is advanced through the outlet end in a stepwise fashion. With each pause in the stepwise advance, the strip is clamped and a lateral cut is made to sever an individual print from the strip. The process then repeats for the next row of prints on the sheet.
Accordingly, the present invention may be characterized in one aspect thereof by a method for separating a sheet of photographic prints into individual prints comprising:
a) providing a sheet of photographic prints wherein the prints are arranged on the sheet in an orthogonal pattern composed of transverse rows, the prints defining each transverse row having aligned leading and trailing edges;
b) moving the sheet longitudinally along a first path of travel into a cutter inlet end;
c) cutting the sheet at the inlet end along a line perpendicular to the first path of travel to sever from the sheet a first strip containing a first row of prints;
d) moving the severed strip to a cutter outlet end along a second path of travel that is perpendicular to the first path of travel;
e) advancing the strip through the outlet end in a stepwise fashion that pauses the movement at a lateral edge of each print; and
f) cutting the strip at each pause in the movement along a line perpendicular to the second path of travel to sever individual prints from the strip.
In another aspect the present invention may be characterized by an apparatus for separating a sheet of photographic prints into individual photographs comprising:
a) a cutter table having an inlet end and a distal outlet end, the outlet end being arranged orthogonally to the inlet end;
b) a sheet driver for moving a sheet of photographs longitudinally along a first path of travel into a cutter inlet end, the photographs being arranged on the sheet in an orthogonal pattern composed of transverse rows, the prints defining each transverse row having aligned leading and trailing edges;
c) a first cutter at the inlet end for cutting the sheet along a line perpendicular to the first path of travel to sever from the sheet a strip containing a first row of prints;
d) a first set of strip movers on the table for moving the severed strip in the direction of the first path of travel to an end of the table opposite the inlet end;
e) a second set of strip movers on the table for advancing the strip in a stepwise fashion to a cutter outlet end along a second path of travel that is perpendicular to the first path of travel, each stepwise advance being followed by a pause for locating a lateral edge of a print at the outlet end; and
f) a second cutter at the outlet end operable during a pause in the stepwise advance to cut the strip along a lateral edge of a print that is perpendicular to the second path of travel to separate individual prints from the strip.